


a swerving

by skullastic



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-11-03 05:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10961055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skullastic/pseuds/skullastic
Summary: i want to write more cos i suck. here is a short thing. it will slowly get longer. please tell me how to get better at this.mildly dragon-age-zevrany, but will split off from that. hopefully. i have never played it, but i do enjoy the character.





	1. and now

There is blood dripping down from his right eye, flowing down his cheek onto the ground in slow drips despite his efforts to dam the bloodflow with his hands. 

Niles looks up with his remaining eye to his captor above him. His quarry. 

Prim and proper, cold and calculating, surely some kind of machine- Prince Leo, in all his deadly glory, pointing a clean sword at his neck. (He is a lot shorter than Niles had imagined, but could he really say that now, kneeling at the prince's feet?)

"Kill me, if you want," Niles murmurs nonchalantly. "In fact, this might even be preferable of a death." He inches forward so the sword presses against his Adam's apple. "Either way, my life is forfeit."

"Who sent you." Leo's question is snippy, efficient, barked out with the confidence of a born leader.

Niles just sits there silently, staring at him, pressing himself against the point of the sword. It begins to draw blood. 

Leo returns his gaze, but withdraws his sword after a while. "It seems that while you are not one to talk, you have no further intention to harm me or anyone else either," he remarks, wiping the blood off his sword and sheathing it. "And yet you want the mercy of a quick death."

"Lord Leo, surely you might understand that failure is punishable by death." Niles stands up. "By all means, do what you will with me."

Leo turns away from him. "Do you speak from the heart, outlaw?" 

"You should know the answer to that already." 

And of course Leo knows, because Niles had the most perfect, perfect shot laid out in front of him. An arrow through the gap between the shoulder blades, and Leo would be incapacitated at best, dead at worst. 

"Join us." Leo doesn't move. His hands are behind his back, hardly an attack-ready stance.

Niles blinks. "Pardon?"

"Your skills... they are much needed by my army. So join us, seeing as you are a much better combatant than assassin." 

"You must be joking," Niles says incredulously, though insinuating that Lord Leo jokes at all was an equally ridiculous statement. 

Leo turns back to Niles, raises an eyebrow. A single hand extends out to him. 

Niles swallows. He knows that there are no alternatives for him: either escape and be hunted, or report back and... well. But hiring an assassin to your team? Lord Leo isn't stupid. 

... And truly, if Leo had already gaged Niles personality within seconds of meeting him, this was a tactically advantageous move, no more than that. But he replies anyway, "Lord Leo, you must be getting soft." 

"Perhaps I am," comes the vague echo back. "Perhaps."

And Niles takes his hand.


	2. ghosting lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and living continues (unfortunately)

Niles stands aside, his presence barely noticeable especially in the cover of night. It is as he intends, because he doesn't fit in. Every time he looks at himself- ragtag clothing, worn worker's hands, long unkempt hair- the clear differences between the army folk and him stand out, let alone the royals. 

But he's taken to watching Leo from afar. At first it was a mild curiosity, for he had assumed that the prince was heartless before meeting him. The commonfolk around Nohr had always spoken of the royal family with a wary tone, and Leo was not spared their disparaging comments. And yet, somehow, meeting the real deal had made Leo seem so utterly human. 

Today, Leo stands near the main tent, probably rehearsing mentally the next day's strategy after a conference with Xander. The light of the lamps inside casts an angelic halo around him, framing his face with a golden sheen. He is lost in thought, looking over some papers, not even noticing when his sibling walks by. 

"Leo, go to sleep..." Corrin fusses over his brother in passing, making him jump a little. On the topic of Corrin, Niles thinks of him as far too trusting, too innocent. He almost feels the pinpricks of jealousy well up in him- such a bright blessed life, with a silver spoon in hand and entrusted with the admiration of so many people. As such, he has never trusted him.

Leo turns around with an annoyed sigh, disturbed from his analysis. The candlelight flickers across his fine Nohrian features. Niles notes that as much as he thought of him as refined and perfect before, the prince has a few flaws. Not that he minded, anyway. Perfection wasn't Niles's cup of tea.

He commands authority among the troops like his brother, but the way he carries himself- a bit stiff and ungainly- makes Niles think he isn't truly fit for a role like Xander's. Sometimes, he hesitates before he speaks, his hair comes out messy, his collar flips inside out. Niles had intended to mock him about it, but it seems like Leo already does it to himself. 

And plus, Niles thinks, it's really quite endearing. The prettyboy prince, looking so insecure and vulnerable... He pauses his thoughts for a second on a mental image of the prince, splayed out on the ground in a tangled mess, refusing to make eye contact with him. He shivers, then catches himself. Fantasies, as per usual. Keep dreaming, he scoffs inwardly. He could never be that close. 

From the shadows Niles could remove himself from the physicality of being in this scene before him, a bystander to a play, capable of turning his attentions away with a snap of his fingers. It was what he was used to: running, running in alleyways, strangers in the dark, hiding from eyes. 

However in this situation he may finds himself in uncharted territories. 

"Come out, scoundrel. It's disturbing to be watched all the time." Leo beckons him over without even looking up. "I never even learned your name, despite you knowing mine." 

Niles hesitates for a second to work past the surprise of being found out, but steps into the light. "Perhaps you shan't need to, unless you'd like to use it more often?" 

"You may be of use yet, despite your unsavory background." He finally raises his eyes to meet with Niles's. 

A chill runs down his spine. Blood red irises, unforgiving as they come. 

"Hey, you caught me fair and square." Niles raises his hands in mock defeat. "If my lord needs me, then my bow is yours."

Leo stares him down for a few seconds, as if trying to pry something out of his soul. "I need your name, at least." 

Now that Niles gets to have a better look at him, he realizes that not only is Leo taller than him.... but he is, in fact, wearing heels. "Niles, just Niles," he murmurs, smirking slightly now. Was the prince so insecure about his height? He wanted to ruffle his hair now and console him about it. 

"Is something the matter?" Leo asks, trying to keep the intimidating façade but stumbling now. 

"Nothing, Lord Leo," he replies easily, straightening up a little more. "Only that it's late out, and you should rest early in preparation for battle." 

Leo quirks an eyebrow. "I hadn't pegged you as the caring type." 

"Well then, you should practice pegging more," he answers with a smug look. Before Leo could say anything else, he spins around, heart still pounding, and darts back into the shadows.


End file.
